Feathers For Aronas
by ShadowOfSacrament
Summary: Aronas FlameFeather. A hunter who becomes more then what he thought he could be. More then what he wanted to be. And soon realizes... what he is destined to be.


_"Easy, easy. You're shakin' all over the place, Aronas. Breathe. She ain't goin' anywhere."_

Aronas was indeed shaking. He tried to force the nerves down, tried to focus on the tip of the arrow before him, his slender digits twitching as they firmly placed themselves over the shaft of the bow. His fingertips brushed the feathers slightly as he pulled back the string, behind his ear. Emerald hues watched the prey before him, a silent stare of concentration. The Springpaw had been idling there, pawing at her recent prey as she gnawed upon a limb, half mauled between her teeth. She hadn't noticed the two men beside her in the distance, seeing her as something quite similar to what now lied between her paws_. _

_"Just… give me a moment, Lyectrix…" _He whispered, almost mumbled. His friend only smiled with slight amusement.

Lyectrix, his childhood friend, insisted on following him out to his daily huntings and travels, curious as to how this new 'profession' would suite him. He could only find interests within the arcane arts for the moment and he had decided during his journey with Aronas that it might've been much better then 'running around in soot, dirt and trees all day.' Of course, dressed in the fairly more appreciated attire of a mage, dancing with colors of purple, red and gold, he would find dirt to be an attachable friend. He simply lingered over Aronas' shoulder, watching him carefully in amusement as his friend 'stalked' his prey.

Aronas was fairly new to this profession. He only had a month beneath the belt as it was. He was shaky in the wrists, a force of habit on his part. He could never keep still. Without wishing to just yet, his fingertips slipped by the brush of feathers and he felt it lick the side of his ear, past his face and into the thigh of the lounging beast before him. _Shit!_ He cursed to himself. _Damn nimble fingers! _

The Springpaw bellowed a painful roar, lurching back as the arrow sank into her thigh, severing a tendon and protruding through the underside. She turned, a vicious glare upon those red slits as they caught sight of the two handsome males, giving a low hiss. Unfortunately, she couldn't run towards them with her leg crippled, so in her moment of fragility, she cried out a loud mournful call. Aronas tensed, not sure what to make of the sound. Usually, they simply stumbled after him but this was new.

_"__What's she doing?"_ Lyectrix whispered and Aronas could only shrug in his confusion. Unfortunately, his realization came too slow for a reaction, to respond to the sudden blur of red and brown fur. Of the three-hundred pound wall of flesh that suddenly took him to the ground. He hadn't realized that he had landed yet, for he seemed to tumble with the newcomer, leaves flying around them in a dance for his inevitable struggle. Only when the sting of claws ripping into his shoulders did the realization come to him and the sudden-fast pace of time came to him. He cried out, but it was deaf to him. He could not hear himself over the roar of the yellow-toothed maw before him, simply inches from his face, the smell of wasted, rotten flesh filling his nostrils.

He quickly fumbled around his belt for his knife, the small skinning knife that seemed to be of the only thing on his mind now. He couldn't afford a good blade just yet, it wasn't in his funds. This profession didn't put a lot in his pocket. He somehow could hear his friend cry out to him, somewhere from where he was, over the maw before him that seemed to swallow his vision. He realized now that his other free hand was the only thing that kept the gaping jaws from devouring his face. Apparently in his frantic state of shock, he was able to place his elbow up just below the beasts' maw, locking it there to keep it away, which seemed a more challenging action at every passing moment. He was strong, though the beasts' upper arm muscles were far more superior.

Finally reaching the knife, he yanked it away from the small leather strap that held it in place, lifting it away and sinking it into the beasts' hide. He didn't know how many times he had dug the blade into the flesh. How many times the claws ripped at his chest and shoulders, going from a blinding pain to a numb feeling. All he could think of was ripping into the beast with the only blade he had as many times as he could. Slipping the blade into his other hand, which was buried into the fur of the beasts' chest, he pushed back forcefully and ripped away, rending the flesh along it's neck, a deep wounding gash filling it's place. His vision became red as blood splattered upon him, finally feeling the creature going limp.

He pushed aside the creature, nearly struggling with the 300 pound mass but succeeding nonetheless. His friend, Lyectrix, came to his side soon after, a frantic worried look about his handsomefeatures. _"By the Gods, Aronas, are you alright?!" _He knelt down, hands coming to him but he suddenly hesitated. Aronas nodded but as he had done so, he felt dizzy, a swirling feeling entering hismind and the world spun around wonderfully, as if to dance before him in a silent melody. Everything darkened, slowly growing colder as his friends' frantic calls turned to silent whispers.

Then nothing. Nothing at all.


End file.
